VIPs Proctor named in vice claims ‘were not suspects’
A RETIRED army general named by former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor as a member of an alleged paedophile ring said he was interviewed by police, but not as a suspect. General Sir Hugh Beach told The
Daily Telegraph police had confirmed to him that no allegation “of any kind” had been made against him. He said he had been interviewed once by officers but “not in any sense as a suspect”.
The statement came as the family of a former MI5 chief said the first they knew of any investigation by police was when Mr Proctor put his name in the public domain.
Mr Proctor, 69, is facing allegations of raping and murdering teenage boys while in a paedophile sex gang with Sir Edward Heath and other high profile figures. On Tuesday he held an extraordinary press conference in which he accused the Metropolitan Police of running a “homosexual witch hunt”.
But he also named other men who police were allegedly investigating, including three whose names had not been made public before. The MP had not contacted the individuals or their families before naming them.
One of them was Sir Hugh, a former Master General of the Ordnance and former Deputy Commander-in-Chief of UK Land Forces.
In a statement, Sir Hugh, 92, said: “The police have confirmed that despite what has been reported in the press no allegation of any kind has been made against me. I am keen to give them every assistance and they have confirmed that I have been as helpful as possible in connection with their investigation. The police have interviewed me on one occasion but not in any sense as a suspect.”
His son, John, said: “It’s extraordinary. My father is a 92-year-old gentleman and I don’t think he’s done anything wrong. I’ve never heard Harvey Proctor’s name in my father’s circle. They certainly weren’t mates.”
Mr Proctor also named Sir Michael Hanley, who was Director General of MI5 from 1971 to 1978 and died in 2001.
In a statement from the family, his daughter, Sarah, said: “Until this morning we knew of no alleged investigation by the Met into allegations against our father. Our father was a decent, loving, principled family man. These are unfounded allegations from an anonymous source and, as such, have no effect on our father’s good name.”